Pages

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Sunday Afternoon Tea - A missionary of beauty

One day last week, I was listening to a speaker on TV when my ears perked up similar to Florentine's when she hears a can opening. Words have that affect on me, especially when someone is speaking about a subject dear to my heart. Beauty.

He was talking about his work in slums and inner cities when he stated that people living in these places have two different kinds of poverty. They have an obvious financial poverty but they also have a poverty of beauty. He went on to say that one slum area where he had ministered was only a few miles from a place of extreme natural beauty but most people living in the slum lived their entire life within the confines of the bleak neighborhoods.

A poverty of beauty. I'd never thought of it that way before.

I pondered his words all week, thinking of how most of us will never be missionaries in foreign lands (although some readers are) and how few of us will be called into relief agencies to assist the poorest among us. Some may venture into a slum area to feed the homeless or work in a food bank but we haven't actually lived in a place of such extreme poverty.

His words caused me to recall the townhouse where we lived prior to purchasing our house in the country. Circumstances at the time prevented us renting anything nicer. Don't get me wrong, it was far from being a slum but it wasn't a very nice neighborhood, either. We would come to find out that there was a drunk living on one side of us and young drug dealers at the far end.

There were four townhouses in the one building, the outside was dark and dingy. Next to each front door was the large garbage container that was to be rolled out to the parking lot each week. It was absolutely depressing to think this is where I would live for who knows how long.

Memories of the beautiful house we had to sell at a loss returned each time I passed the garbage by the front door. But there was a difference between us and the other tenants for I viewed this setback as temporary and this was their world. Instead of remaining depressed, I decided to become a Missionary of Beauty.

I wrote long ago about the spiritual warfare of decorating (and received some amusing emails such as... huh?). I didn't have a name for it but it was my way of representing Christ in less than perfect circumstances. Undoubtedly the influence of Edith Schaeffer in my early spiritual thinking. So I moved an old wooden chair outside in front of the only window facing the parking lot, next to that porch with the trash by the door.

On the chair I placed a pot with beautiful flowers growing. I can't recall what they were but they were most likely red geraniums. They are my favorite deck flowers, especially when next to yellow daisies. One day, I saw where the family who lived next door had also placed flowers in the front of their house. I had my first convert and just a little more beauty to make one smile.

It was only about a year later that we applied for a government loan that allowed low income families to purchase houses in the country. That loan, combined with living in an area where rural houses are not expensive, enabled us to purchase the home where we have now lived for over eleven years. The small house I love even more than my former "dream house".

I didn't know that first day when I walked past the large garbage container that my husband having to go on Disability would be the very thing that helped us own our own house again just over a year later. I didn't know God was sending me through a short season of again living in such financial poverty. But I did know He had made me a missionary of both Christ and beauty while there. I shared both to each of our neighbors as God opened a door.

I still recall the day the neighbor's children came over to pick up homemade cookies I'd promised the family and saw the look on their face when they walked past the trash and through the front door. For what they saw was... beauty. Not perfect by any means for the room they walked into held only our dining room furniture (the bedrooms were on the third level and the only place for our sofa and chairs was in the basement level) but decorated with pretty things nonetheless.

It reminded me of the time Christopher was a little boy and we lived in our colonial style house. He told me the neighbors thought we were rich because our house looked so nice. I had to laugh for while we did have some nice pieces of furniture we had been able to purchase through the years and some lovely inherited furniture from both parents... so much of the decorating that made it beautiful was picked up at Goodwill, garage sales, and flea markets for years and years.

We are just passing through this fallen world, being sojourners whose Kingdom is a place of beauty beyond our wildest imagination says the Bible. So while we are here, I can't think of anything better (other than obviously sharing salvation in Christ) than to be missionaries of His Beauty in such a dark and unsettled world.

Hmmm... I think there is more to ponder here. See you next week.

Image: Feathered Friends by Mary Smith - I love this artwork. The house is very similar to our Colonial style house we had to sell and the child looks much like Christopher did when we lived there.

13 comments:

Brenda, you are one of those women who can create home wherever you land. I am so glad that your time in the place you were describing was relatively brief. Sad to think that people tend to stick with what they know.

Lovely thoughts. It's a concern for me to think of staying in an old, run down neighborhood and making my own beauty daily to share with neighbors, or moving to a different one where there is beauty all around all the time for my own family to enjoy.Thank you. Would you care to share any photos of your past homes?

I, like you, have a need for creating beauty and order in my home. Twenty three years ago my husband was hired for a sales position out of state but it was not a state we were excited about moving to. We were used to country living and small towns and here we were going to NJ where it took my husband an hour to drive to his job near NYC. We bought an affordable raised ranch that was in much need of cleaning and cosmetic repairs. When we moved in, I remember thinking, 'what on earth were we thinking to bring our 4 children here to live? It was not long after moving in that we cleaned, re-stained the small deck, scrubbed the windows, re-panted the front door with a welcoming color, hung a wreath and decorated it with all of our things from our previous home. It ended up being a fun challenge to make a dark, dingy house a home of beauty and order. We have done this a few times over the years.

Yes indeed, there is "much to ponder here". I did not have words for "poverty of beauty" but have always believed that our environment contributes to our psyche. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts about this.

nice thoughts, Brenda. We are living in perhaps one of the plainest exteriors of our lives right now...but the inside is lovely and updated so nicely...and I am working on making it more "ours". As we have aged, we have gotten VERY small places...the last apt was only 500 sq ft. This one is probably about 700. But size does not make for happy...not really. And we both feel what we are renting is GOOD ENOUGH!! Taint our final home anyway...

You've given me something to "ponder" as well. I've always enjoyed making my surroundings as pleasant and pretty as possible because it makes me feel good inside and out. And I've wondered why so many who don't own the places they live can live without making their surroundings as nice as they can. Perhaps it's not only a physical thing but a lack of spiritual motivation as well. When God is part of our lives it seems to come naturally to make the most of what we have and to enjoy it.

Emilie Barnes and Edith Schaeffer have had an affect on my thinking it these areas. We don't have to be wealthy to live a life full of beauty! I, like you, have found it to be a testimony to others without saying a word, when my home is tidy, and I have some nice flowers outside my door!

I love this post. It reminds me of a part in the book the The Hiding Place. Corrie and Betsie had been taken to prison and put into different cells. Time passed and Corrie didn't know where Betsie was. Then one day, Corrie was taken into a room for questioning and on her way back to her cell, the guard took her down the corridor where Betsie's cell was. She looked in one of the cells and saw Betsie and some other women inside. She couldn't believe what else she saw though. Betsie, with a few meager items, had made that awful prison cell into one of those beautiful places you spoke of. It lifted Corrie's spirits to see her sister and to see what her sister had done in that cell.Thanks for a great post!

Amen!!! I am a missionary. I, too, have learned much from Emilie Barnes and Edith Schaeffer. I love to have beauty around me. Most of what I have is inherited and from thrift stores or gifts. It attracts others to my home so that I can share the love of Christ.